Weekly Hitter Rankings: Steeltown's Turn

The Weekly Hitter Rankings is a companion piece to the Weekly Pitcher Rankings. While in many leagues your offensive roster slots are set 'em and forget 'em, in deeper formats where every at-bat counts, knowing which teams have friendly schedules for hitters, and which platoon bats will be getting more action than usual, can be valuable information, especially in head-to-head formats and leagues where you make moves weekly instead of daily. The Weekly Hitter Rankings will summarize all that info in one spot, for your roster-juggling convenience.

For the period of August 22-28

NOTE: I've begun to incorporate 2016 offensive performance into the home/road splits for each team and will gradually increase the weight the more recent numbers carry as the season progresses. 2016 park factors are also now included, replacing 2013 park factors in the rolling three-year average.

7 GAMES

1. Pittsburgh (32.400)

vs. HOU (3) – Fister (R), Musgrove (R), McHugh (R)
at MIL (4) – W. Peralta (R), Garza (R), Nelson (R), Chase Anderson (R)

The numbers now listed after each team are their "WHR score", which considers the team's offense (home or away), opposition starters (by FIP) and park factors if they're on the road. Think of it as a rough prediction of the total runs that the team will score on the week. The Pirates also face no lefties this week, giving John Jaso a chance to get going before Josh Bell returns to the majors in September.

2. Boston (31.563)

at TB (4) – Snell (L), Archer (R), Andriese (R), Odorizzi (R)
vs. KC (3) – Kennedy (R), Duffy (L), Ventura (R)

3. Washington (31.382)

at BAL (2) – Bundy (R), Gausman (R) WITH DH
vs. BAL (2) – Miley (L), Tillman (R)
vs. COL (3) – Hoffman (R), J. De La Rosa (L), Bettis (R)

4. Arizona (30.707)

vs. ATL (4) – Foltynewicz (R), Whalen (R), Teheran (R), Jenkins (R)
vs. CIN (3) – Finnegan (L), DeSclafani (R), H. Bailey (R)

5. Cleveland (30.322)

at OAK (3) – Triggs (R), Manaea (L), Graveman (R)
at TEX (4) – D. Holland (L), Griffin (R), M. Perez (L), Darvish (R)

6. Seattle (29.803)

vs. NYY (3) – Pineda (R), Sabathia (L), Tanaka (R)
at CHW (4) – Shields (R), Sale (L), Quintana (L), Ranaudo (R)

7. Milwaukee (29.748)

vs. COL (3) – Bettis (R), J. Gray (R), T. Anderson (L)
vs. PIT (4) – Kuhl (R), Vogelsong (R), Taillon (R), Nova (R)

8. Baltimore (28.470)

vs. WAS (2) – Strasburg (R), R. Lopez (R)
at WAS (2) – Roark (R), Scherzer (R) NO DH
at NYY (3) – Cessa (R), Green (R), Pineda (R)

A lefty-less week would normally be good news for Pedro Alvarez, but he'll likely be stuck on the bench for the two-game set in DC.

9. Tampa Bay (28.377)

vs. BOS (4) – Price (L), Buchholz (R), Porcello (R), Pomeranz (L)
at HOU (3) – Fiers (R), Keuchel (L), Fister (R)

10. LA Dodgers (28.348)

at CIN (1) – H. Bailey (R)
vs. SF (3) – Peavy (R), Bumgarner (L), Cueto (R)
vs. CHC (3) – Montgomery (L), Hammel (R), Lester (L)

11. Atlanta (27.566)

at ARI (4) – Godley (R), Bradley (R), Greinke (R), Ray (L)
at SF (3) – Moore (L), Samardzija (R), Peavy (R)

6 GAMES

12. Toronto (28.918)

vs. LAA (3) – Skaggs (L), Shoemaker (R), J. Weaver (R)
vs. MIN (3) – Santiago (L), E. Santana (R), Gibson (R)

13. Detroit (27.087)

at MIN (3) – Gibson (R), Duffey (R), Berrios (R)
vs. LAA (3) – Nolasco (R), Chacin (R), Skaggs (L)

14. Texas (26.892)

at CIN (2) – Straily (R), Adleman (R) NO DH
vs. CLE (4) – Tomlin (R), Kluber (R), Carrasco (R), Salazar (R)

No lefties makes Nomar Mazara a more interesting play despite his recent fade near the end of a long rookie season.

15. LA Angels (26.445)

at TOR (3) – Dickey (R), Estrada (R), Happ (L)
at DET (3) – D. Norris (L), Verlander (R), Anibal Sanchez (R)

16. Minnesota (26.037)

vs. DET (3) – Anibal Sanchez (R), Boyd (L), M. Fulmer (R)
at TOR (3) – Liriano (L), Aaron Sanchez (R), Stroman (R)

17. Chicago Cubs (25.764)

at SD (3) – Jackson (R), Friedrich (L), Clemens (R)
at LAD (3) – B. Anderson (L), Kazmir (L), Maeda (R)

18. Miami (25.623)

vs. KC (3) – Ventura (R), Gee (R), Volquez (R)
vs. SD (3) – Cosart (R), Richard (L), Perdomo (R)

19. Cincinnati (25.528)

vs. LAD (1) – Kazmir (L)
vs. TEX (2) – Darvish (R), Hamels (L)
at ARI (3) – Shipley (R), Godley (R), Bradley (R)

20. Houston (25.439)

at PIT (3) – Taillon (R), Nova (R), G. Cole (R) NO DH
vs. TB (3) – Smyly (L), Snell (L), Archer (R)

21. NY Yankees (25.162)

at SEA (3) – Martin (R), Iwakuma (R), LeBlanc (L)
vs. BAL (3) – Gallardo (R), Bundy (R), Gausman (R)

22. St. Louis (24.716)

vs. NYM (3) – Niese (L), deGrom (R), Matz (L)
vs. OAK (3) – Detwiler (L), Hahn (R), Triggs (R)

23. San Diego (24.672)

vs. CHC (3) – Lester (L), Arrieta (R), Hendricks (R)
at MIA (3) – Phelps (R), Urena (R), Cashner (R)

24. Colorado (24.616)

at MIL (3) – Nelson (R), Davies (R), Suter (L)
at WAS (3) – G. Gonzalez (L), Strasburg (R), R. Lopez (R)

25. Oakland (24.248)

vs. CLE (3) – Carrasco (R), Salazar (R), Bauer (R)
at STL (3) – L. Weaver (R), Leake (R), Garcia (L) NO DH

26. Chicago White Sox (24.114)

vs. PHI (2) – J. Thompson (R), Eickhoff (R)
vs. SEA (4) – F. Hernandez (R), Miranda (L), Martin (R), Iwakuma (R)

27. NY Mets (23.783)

at STL (3) – Garcia (L), C. Martinez (R), Wainwright (R)
vs. PHI (3) – Morgan (L), Hellickson (R), Velasquez (R)

28. San Francisco (23.673)

at LAD (3) – Maeda (R), Hill (L), B. Norris (R)
vs. ATL (3) – De La Cruz (R), Foltynewicz (R), Whalen (R)

29. Kansas City (22.025)

at MIA (3) – Cashner (R), J. Fernandez (R), Koehler (R) NO DH
at BOS (3) – E. Rodriguez (L), Price (L), S. Wright (R)

5 GAMES

30. Philadelphia (19.501)

at CHW (2) – Ranaudo (R), Rodon (L) WITH DH
at NYM (3) – Colon (R), Syndergaard (R), Niese (L)

Stay far away from any Phillies hitters this week if you can at all help it.